This thesis contends that the translatability and interpretation theories are what allow the Bible and its message to be accepted by and relevant to all people in the world, including those in the northern belt of Namibia, among Ovawambo and Okavango communities. This thesis deals with the applicability of the translatability theories in the process of the translation of the Bible into Oshindonga, Oshikwanyama and Rukwangali, a project undertaken by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN). The thesis starts with the introduction, which shows how the work was carried out, and its objectives are described in chapter one. Chapter two deals with the translatability and interpretation theories of the Bible as represented by Lamin Sanneh and Kwame Bediako. Lamin Sanneh (1989) and Kwame Bediako (1997) speak of the translatability theory of the Bible and of Christianity as a whole, which allows everyone to speak of the wonderful work of God in his/her own tongue. Translatability is the theoretical framework of this thesis. The theory aims at translating the Bible from one language to another, and goes further to include the social sphere of the person. The translatability theory is what makes the translation process in any vernacular language relevant and acceptable. The translatability theory not only includes the language, but also the cultural aspects of the people. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Since about 1960, a foreign missionary project, the ‘Reformed Mission Enkumane’, has been situated in eNkumane, a rural area on the banks of the uMkhomazi River in KwaZulu-Natal. In order to describe this missionary project and its role in the area, a study was completed of the following three topics: the history of the people in the eNkumane area, the history of three other missionary projects in the vicinity of eNkumane and the history of the Reformed Mission in eNkumane. It was found that some of the inhabitants of eNkumane trace their history back to the northern parts of kwaZulu and Swaziland, from where their ancestors fled during the first half of the 19th century and moved in a south-westerly direction. They resettled at the uMkhomazi, where around the middle of the 19th century, the British Colonial Government started to divide the area and allocate it as commercial farmland. During the second half of the 19th century, the migration of labourers towards industrial centres started to deprive the area of especially the male part of the population for the majority of each year. Out of the migrant labour system several social webs grew which extend into industrial urban areas as far as Durban and Johannesburg. The ongoing drain of especially men and youngsters from the area looking for employment in industrial urban centres is counterbalanced by the return of community members through retirement, sickness or failure to maintain jobs. As a result, whilst the eNkumane can be seen as constituting a marginal area with a residue population, the homesteads also function as nodes in wide social webs. At the time of arrival of the Reformed Mission in the area, three missionary projects had already been undertaken within a diameter of about 40 kilometres around eNkumane since the middle of the 19th century. A common characteristic of these projects was their focus on church, school, clinic and agriculture. Their missionary activities can be seen as a sharing of the Gospel with people in need across cultural barriers. The centre of each missionary project was a Mission Station, which in certain aspects simultaneously functioned as both a refuge and a threat to the surrounding community. At present, the former Mission Stations still comprise small congregations with a maximum of about 200 members. The Reformed Mission Enkumane is a missionary project of a church in The Netherlands, which history is characterized by a number of church schisms that resulted from the struggle for its orthodox identity, especially concerning the independent status of local church congregations. Although the missionary project led to the formation of four local Reformed Churches elsewhere in the southern part of KwaZulu-Natal, in the eNkumane area, the project only really settled in a marginal way through its involvement in funerals, prayer meetings and occasional gatherings. Nonetheless, the project can been seen as a good example of missionary work defined as the activities of a church moving beyond its own boundaries into the margins of God’s Kingdom. It offers a unique opportunity for people from different backgrounds to live, work and worship together. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Asking the question ‘What does beauty have to do with justice?’, I am concerned with women’s encounter, experience and expression of the Divine through their creativity, as well as the theological significance of women’s aesthetic expression and creativity in the contexts of their lives. As a potent, authentic locus of women’s spirituality, theology, and revelation of God, the aesthetic has critical implications for doing theology with women in South Africa. This thesis addresses concerns of full life for women in South Africa, and the Beauty of the Divine, as it is encountered and revealed through their creativity. Against the backdrop of multiple life-denying structures and circumstances, and in light of liberating theologies for women, I discuss the power of Divine creative energy to promote full life for women in South Africa, as it is unleashed through their human creativity. Stories of women artists and crafters from different socio-economic contexts are analysed from theological, spiritual, psychological and ethical perspectives. The creative process and work are seen to bear significant fruit in their lives, with personal, spiritual, practical, communal, social and ethical implications for themselves and others. Their creativity is then discussed in terms of the aesthetic in theology as a whole, an area called theological aesthetics. This includes ontological considerations of the Beauty of God, the encounter with beauty and its effects on the person who beholds it. Art is seen as a theological source as it reveals insights about being. I engage with key scholars such as Hans Urs von Balthasar, John W. de Gruchy, Michelle Gonzalez, Matthew Fox, and Susan A. Ross. Works of aesthetic scholars such as Elaine Scarry and Paul Crowther inform the deepening of my analysis, as do psychologists Anton Ehrenzweig, Rollo May and Graham Lindegger, and art historian Juliette Leeb-du Toit. Liberating theologies for women is a central nerve of my analysis and the works of scholars such as Mercy Oduyoye, Musimbi Kanyoro, Susan Rakoczy, Isabel Phiri and Sarojini Nadar have been invaluable. Among my conclusions is the prioritization of the aesthetic to the theological task in South Africa. Beauty is the ‘why’ of ‘why the good must be carried out’, and aesthetic expression is an interlocutor of women’s marginalized voices. At the same time, this research indicates that concerns, voices, and insights of women and feminist thinking have been marginal in the discourse on theological aesthetics. The thesis formulates a feminist theological aesthetics rooted in women’s creativity in South Africa, in response to a gap in both theological and aesthetic discourse in this country. A new dimension is introduced that contributes to the ongoing debate in the field of theological aesthetics. The thesis connects concerns of full life for women in South Africa with Beauty’s embodied presence, seen through women’s personal and spiritual growth, moral agency and confidence, self-care and dignity, healing and economic well-being, community and interrelatedness, life-affirming drive and vision, and the consequent effects on others as well the social order. I argue that Beauty has everything to do with justice. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This research is designed to investigate the role and mission of the Church in response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. A case study of St Alois Catholic Rural Mission Station has been used for the investigation of the research. The research focuses on women who are living with HIV and AIDS. A good number of African women theologians and scholars, as well as some male theologians, have explored the implications of HIV and AIDS. They have highlighted the impact of inequitable gender relations on women’s vulnerability to HIV. This research is built on the evidence that has been exposed by the theologians in the area of HIV and AIDS. The research findings affirm and portray a reflection of the reality of suffering that is being encountered by women living with HIV and AIDS. Until appropriate measures are put in place to address the pandemic, the Church will always remain challenged to respond to the theological challenges presented by the HIV epidemic. The research draws the attention of St Alois Catholic Rural Mission Station to the urgent need of responding to the devastating consequences of HIV and AIDS for women and their families. The study suggests three key biblical insights that should be a motive for the Church to be engaged in the pandemic. These are: the Exodus event that reveals the justice of God for the poor people; the mission of the prophets, a mission for the poor; and the mission of Jesus. Central to these key insights is the liberation of the poor and the oppressed. The mission of the Church therefore cannot be understood outside God’s mission Missio Dei, a mission that has the poor as its central focus. In this research, the Church is encouraged to redefine its mission by recognising the plight of the poor and creating situations that aim to eradicate the oppression of women, and provide empowerment opportunities that can transform their lives. Liberation Theology and Asset-Based Community Development are used as frameworks or tools that attempt to answer the research problem: How can the Catholic Church of St Alois Rural Mission exercise its pastoral mission in addressing the challenges that are faced by women living with HIV and AIDS? / http://hdl.handle.net/10413/1661 / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This study investigates the theological resources of poor and semi-literate women of the Union Baptist Church in Murrupula District, Nampula province, Mozambique in the context of food insecurity and poverty. It makes use of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework as a tool to analyse the vulnerability context of Murrupula women in relation to the existing livelihood assets. It also uses the notion of survival theologies to analyse the theological resources that Murrupula women have and use in their struggle to survive within a context of food insecurity. The study aims to recover the theological resources of women in order to contribute to a relevant contextual theology for social transformation in Mozambique. It is a qualitative study based on interviews, field observation and personal experience. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with ten women. The women interviewed were between the ages of eighteen to seventy years old relying on the practice of subsistence agriculture as their main source of livelihood. The findings reveal that women have theological resources they use in their response to food insecurity, poverty and illness. These include women’s faith, prayer and agricultural work, networking and fundraising groups. Women rely on God, through prayer, toprovide for all their needs. Their network functions as a safe social site and is an important resource for spiritual, physical and economic support. The study argues that the theological resources of these women are important for their own and their households’survival and well-being. The findings also reveal that Murrupula women do not only literally survive, but have a desire to live a full and quality life despite poverty and food insecurity. They do so through their use of agricultural work as a livelihood and survival strategy which is not only about producing food, but is also about a process of wellbeing. This study thus argues that the theological resources of Murrupula women indicate that they live by theologies of okhala. Okhala means life and well-being. Its usage describes the life conditions and well-being of people. In introducing theologies of okhala, the study proposes the need for further research into the full recovery of the notion of okhala and its theological significance for the Makhuwa Christian community. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

This thesis provides a theological reflection on the water crisis situation in Botswana. In order to do this, the study adopts the threefold method of liberation theology being; socio-analytical mediation, hermeneutical mediation and practical mediation. Firstly, in the socio-analytical mediation we address the social context of the water crisis in Botswana. Secondly, the hermeneutical mediation focuses on the faith perspective of the study. Drawing from the social teaching of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), this mediation will provide a theological response to the water crisis and the scarcity of rainfall in Botswana. Lastly, through the practical mediation, we move towards formulating the strategies of response on the basis of the experiences of the water crisis discovered through the social analysis and an understanding of the position of God in the situation. Resulting from this process, we will propose the development of the contextual theology of pula. The study conducts an overview of the water crisis both on the global scale and in Botswana. In this area we explore themes ranging from water privatization, safe water and sanitation, urbanization, population growth, damming of rivers to drought. Also, we analysed the impact of water crisis on individuals where we covered themes including; limited accessibility to potable water, delayed social and sustainable development and increase in water tariffs. For a theological response, five key ethical themes were identified during examination of the UCCSA tradition. The five key themes are: human dignity and respect; justice and equality; sound use of earth resources; unity and inclusion; and the value of life. This thesis propose two kinds of actions being; Firstly, the development of the theology of Pula where we considered themes including; the Oikos and Pula, Water as a Gift from God, Water ethic focusing on Pula among others. Secondly, the thesis proposes practical steps that include among others; the establishment of Environmental Office, Rain Water harvesting as well as recycling and Reusing of water. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This thesis concerns the "Let the People Speak" approach to development of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC). It evaluates the extent to which this approach can be considered to be legitimate Christian approach to development, that takes seriously the contemporary concerns of development theory and practice. In doing this, the thesis first lays down a theological framework for development drawn from the theologians Hans Kung, Jurgen Moltmann, Jose Miguez Bonino, and Desmond Tutu, and the educationalist Paulo Freire. This framework argues that human dignity and humanization should be the goal of Christian engagement in social transformation and development, and that this is achieved by paying attention to three themes: the agency of the poor, their assets, and an appreciative approach by outsiders. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This thesis offers a queer analysis of the opposition to same - sex marriage as articulated by the Marriage Alliance of South Africa (MASA). This qualitative research seeks to interrogate the definition of marriage presented by the lawyers for MASA in their written submission to the Constitutional Court, and the theology of marriage underpinning their position. MASA’s theology of marriage is analysed using two related branches of theology: feminist theology and queer theology. This analysis aims to expose MASA’s patriarchal and heterosexist worldview of marriage and family, and aims to show that same - sex marriage poses a direct threat to their worldview. R esearch in the fields of queer theory and theology is offered in support of the hypothesis that same - sex marriage presents a direct threat to traditional patriarchal Christian family values. This queer ana lysis is based on an understanding of gender that asserts that the roles within a family are not determined by inherent gender identities, but by the performance of particular roles peculiar to a family’s self - understanding. The thesis then concludes with an alternative theology of marriage and family based on queer and feminist Trinitarian theologies that allow for more just forms of marriage relationship and family life. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

This mini-dissertation represents a critical readin g and interpretation of key Bonhoeffer texts, including Sanctorum Communio , Discipleship and Life Together. Analysis of these texts is integrated with an exploration of Bonhoeffer’s pers onal development, as interpreted by his biographer, Eberhard Bethge. In particular, attenti on is given to the intentional community at Finkenwalde during the years 1935-1937 with a view to assessing Bonhoeffer’s monastic convictions. It is these convictions which form the basis of the comparison between Finkenwalde and the contemporary movement known as New Monastic ism. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.